We were at Sam's Club today and I was amazed at all the
different Stainless Steel grills they offered. There was
one built into an island, complete with chairs and canopy.
There were several free standing types for both LP and
natural gas, drop in units and also a long multiple burner
grill of parties. There was also a SS smoker that seemed to
be pretty interesting, a rolling cabinet with sink and
drawers and also some cabinets intended to be rolled up to a
grill as additional counter area.

You see some of this at Lowe's, Home Depot and Sears, but
the prices are usually about 50% higher than Sam's Club. If
you go to a barbecue store like Barbecue Galore, the prices
for similar items will be 2-3 TIMES as much. When I've
compared, the clerk usually says, "We have better steel."
Humbug! Better stainless steel would contribute about $.02
in additional cost, and frankly, I doubt if their offering
is any better. In most cases, i recognize the grills,
burners etc. as being something right off of the same
assembly line in China as the Sam's versions.

My own thought is that Sam's Club usually targets items sold
by other stores that have the highest markup. Just like
they gut the bread and butter business of mattress stores,
appliance stores, office supply stores and even some
clothing stores, they've now targeted the wildly overpriced
barbecue and grill stores.